Switzerland's recent vote to ban the building of new minarets on Muslim mosques might be so backwards that it'll wind up inciting widespread public support of the Muslim community in Europe.

The ban, which narrowly passed on Sunday with 57.5 percent of the vote, will be implemented with the addition of a single line to the Swiss constitution in which the construction of the minarets is outlawed. The architectural towers are tall, distinctive spires that serve as a point from which a call to prayer is made, and are thought of by right-wing Swiss political figures as symbols against the integration of the Islamic people into European society.

The backlash that's resulted is so critical of the measure that we're left wondering how it could have ever passed to begin with. The Los Angeles Times argued that, "Building a minaret in a European city is arguably the opposite of a secessionist or defiant act." A number of European papers have expressed their unhappiness with Switzerland's decision -- France's Liberation claimed that, "The irrational fear of Islam has struck once again in Europe," and the Guardian strongly criticized the Swiss, saying that their "cherished national brand" has been "tarnished."

Protesters and bloggers across Switzerland and other European cities have publicly announced that they do not support the ban, and in what has probably marked the loudest cry against Sunday's decision, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said that the outlawing of the towers is an act of "anti-foreigner scare-mongering." Even the Swiss foreign minister has conceded that the nation's government is concerned by how the ban could affect its public image.

The reactions have been so consistently negative that there's already talk of overturning the ban on the basis that it violates fundamental European liberties. If the decision is reversed, the willingness of the European community to stand up on behalf of its Muslim population will speak louder than a single rash and controversial decision by the Swiss.